Harry Potter and the Chosen Road
by Tez-gm
Summary: ON HIATUS: Harry must find the remaining Horcruxes if he wants to defeat Voldemort for good. However, it seems that fate wants to make the task more difficult, and Harry soon finds himself a marked man with bigger problems to deal with. post HBP
1. Prologue

Again, I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous ones!

Righto, so this is just a little fic about my potential seventh book taking place after the events in HBP. This story is a stand-alone, and does not fit in with any of my other fics. Again, only some names are mine, everything else is not!

Er, the prologue will pick up almost straight after HBP ended. I haven't written terribly much for this fic, and I'll only be working on this one when I want a break from my other main story (in other words, don't expect me to update this one quickly, ok?). I'll probably keep the title as is, but I might change the summary as I get a better idea of exactly where and how I want this story to go.

Enough rambling, I might as well begin! Oh, a big thanks for supernova for helping me with this bit :D

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**Prologue – The Conversation**

Harry was talking with Hermione and Ginny, waiting for Ron who had, as usual, left the packing of his trunk until the last moment. The three of them were interrupted when Professor McGonagall came through the portrait.

"Potter, the Headmaster's portrait would like to talk to you."

Harry nodded then turned to his friends, "I'll be back soon, guys. And if not, save me a seat on the train."

After getting approvals from Ginny and Hermione, Harry followed his Head of House to the familiar gargoyle statue. Harry had asked her what Dumbledore's portrait had wanted, but she didn't know as it had refused to explain it to her.

Harry noted that the office hadn't changed all that much, and watched as Professor McGonagall left him alone in the office, at the request of Dumbledore.

After a short moment of silence, where Harry felt that all the portraits were scrutinising him closely, a familiar voice spoke up, "I'm sorry, Harry."

"For what?"

"For not being there to help you through this."

"It's not your fault, Professor. I'll make sure Snape pays for what he did."

"That is what I wanted to talk to you about. You see, I have heard what happened from Minerva's perspective, but I would like for you to tell me your version of events. I only have the knowledge of everything up to the point where I agreed with you about coming along when I had found a Horcrux."

Harry nodded, before looking around at the other portraits, all of which seemed to be very interested in what he had to say.

"Er, Professor…"

"No need to worry, Harry, every portrait is sworn to secrecy when it comes to matters such as this," he replied, eyes twinkling.

Again, Harry nodded and retold everything he could remember from that point onwards. About his and Malfoy's confrontation, about how he had run into Professor Trelawney and found out about Snape being the one who overheard the first part of the prophecy. Harry looked up at the portrait at this point, expecting Dumbledore to interrupt him, but found the old wizard waiting patiently for Harry to finish his story.

He finished off with their trip to the cave where they came across the fake locket (though neither of them knew that at the time) and everything that transpired when the two of them arrived back at Hogwarts.

Harry then looked up at Dumbledore's portrait and glared at him. "I could've stopped Malfoy, you know. Why did you do that to me?"

"Because I knew that young Mr Malfoy wouldn't be able to hurt me, Harry."

"But, if I'd have stunned him, we could've helped with the fight!" Harry angrily replied.

"I have no doubt we could have, Harry. I could have easily disarmed Draco wandlessly, but then you would not have found out about him having second thoughts about his current stance of this war," Dumbledore answered.

"Then…"

"I trust Severus and his judgement."

"I don't believe this! You're defending that git after he _killed_ you?'!"

"Harry…"

"He only did it because of that Unbreakable Vow he made," Harry continued, ignoring Dumbledore's attempt to get his attention, though his next comment caught Harry by surprise.

"What Unbreakable Vow?"

"You mean he didn't tell you?" Harry asked.

"No, he did not mention anything about a Vow to me."

"He made one with Malfoy's Mum, that he'd help him with his job."

Dumbledore furrowed his brow, and Harry noticed that his eyes lost all signs of their twinkle. "This changes everything."

"Of course it changes things, you're dead for starters!" Harry scoffed, pointing out the obvious.

Dumbledore gave him a small smile, "Indeed I am, Harry, but that also puts your verbal battle with Severus into more perspective. For if Severus had broken that Vow, he would have…"

"Died," Harry cut in, "I know. I asked Ron about it later."

"I see. Did you happen to overhear anything else?"

Harry was about to ask why, but Dumbledore sensed this. "Please, Harry, just answer my question, and I'll explain afterwards."

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Malfoy mentioned something about Defence Against the Dark Arts being an act, and Snape told him that that, yes, it was an act, but vital to success. I can't remember all the details, sorry."

"There is no need to apologise, Harry, for I think I can understand what Severus had in mind. His position in this war is critical, so he was not about to tell Draco anything that would compromise himself."

"Then why didn't he tell you about the Vow?"

"Alas, that is something that has me troubled."

"Why?"

"I do not have any answer for why he didn't inform me. Judging by Minerva's reaction, I doubt anyone in the Order will willingly let Severus return."

"Yeah, I got that impression when we were in the hospital wing. Hagrid thought you must have told him to return with the Death Eater's. He didn't believe me until he saw your body on the ground."

"Minerva came to the same conclusion, and that I had told Severus to do whatever he had to, to get back in favour with Lord Voldemort."

"Then did you?"

"I did not. Though, had I known about the Vow, I would have most likely told him to take that course of action if it was required."

"Then why do you think he didn't tell you?" Harry asked, knowing that Dumbledore's answer to this question would ultimately decide which side in this war Snape was on.

"There is only one reason he would not have told me, Harry," Dumbledore replied, before looking straight into Harry's eyes, blue clashing with green, "It would appear that my trust in Severus has been misplaced."

"You mean he's…"

"A spy? Yes he is."

"But…"

"We just don't truly know for which side."


	2. Chapter 1 – Planning Ahead

Again, I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous ones!

Righto, so this is just a little fic about my potential seventh book taking place after the events in HBP. This story is a stand-alone, and does not fit in with any of my other fics. Again, only some names are mine, everything else is not!

Yes, I know that Harry does tell Dumbledore about Snape and Draco (and Draco also tells Dumbledore at the end)…but the book never mentions the words 'Unbreakable Vow' in those parts, hence why I did it like that.

It is quite likely that the majority of the chappies for this fic will be a bit on the short side…but, then again, until I've written the whole thing, I won't really know will I, lol!

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**Chapter 1 – Planning Ahead**

Harry was sitting at his desk, tapping his chin with a quill as he looked over his list he had spent the last three weeks mulling over. Hedwig was out, been sent earlier by Harry to deliver a letter to Ron, along with his acceptance to Bill and Fleur's wedding. His talk with Dumbledore's portrait had given him a lot to think about, not least of which was how best to go about tracking down the remaining Horcruxes.

Books were scattered across the floor of his room, with Harry doing his best to read up on all he could about spells. Professor Slughorn had also been kind enough to lend him a couple of books on Occlumency after Harry had reminded his portly Potions Professor that Lily would want Harry to defend himself against anything Voldemort might try against him.

In the two weeks since he had received the book, he had learnt more than what Snape's so-called 'teaching' provided. He knew that he had a long way to go, and was grateful that Voldemort was still employing Occlumency to shield himself from Harry, leaving Harry free to go at his own pace. The hardest thing about clearing ones mind was that he continuously found himself tripping over his thoughts about trying _not_ to think about anything.

Harry decided he'd had enough of his list and opened his drawer, pulling out an article from one of his Aunt's magazines he had managed to pilfer from the rubbish bin. It contained some tips about meditating which, up until now, he hadn't bothered reading.

'_The aim of meditation is to bring inner peace within one's self and the world in a positive and spiritual way. The world is not a peaceful place,'_

Harry snorted at that, thinking exactly how _peaceful_ the last six years had been for him.

'_And within every soul there is some form of tension and stress.'_

'Well, I have plenty of _that_,' Harry laughed softly to himself.

_'It is therefore essential to create positive and peaceful thoughts to bring peace to our mind. Meditation is one of the best methods to bring about transformation and nurture the natural qualities within. The best way that we can create that change is to change our thoughts from being negative to positive. The positive discovery about meditation is that we are focusing within our self and becoming free of negativity. Meditation techniques simply involve a process of transforming yourself, your thoughts, and recognising the negative thoughts, and changing them into positive and peaceful thoughts.'_

'Wonderful,' Harry dryly thought, 'How exactly am I supposed change seeing Snape kill Dumbledore right in front of me into something positive?'

'_The best attitude towards meditation is to be very patient as the mind does not always want to focus. Having a sense of expectation towards positive results can create uncomfortable pressure and thus take away the enjoyment of the experience. By practicing meditation regularly, the person whom meditates gains a wonderful sense of the self.'_

Harry sighed as he finished the article before tossing it on the floor, going back to his rather short list. All he had written was the things he felt he needed to learn most of all. Top of the list was to master nonverbal spells, which, he begrudgingly admitted, Snape made him out to be a bit of a fool during their battle. After that came Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms (as Dumbledore had used that to excellent effect in the Ministry by having the statues blocking curses), Occlumency, Horcruxes, and the final thing on his list was how to detect wards. He figured that there was no point in finding a Horcrux, if he didn't know how to remove whatever charms Voldemort had chosen to use.

Transfiguration, Harry had to admit, wasn't really a top priority for him. While it would be nice to have an animagus form for example, he knew that he wouldn't really have the time to undertake the appropriate training for it. After all, Lupin said it had taken his Dad and Sirius over two years to get it right, and while Harry was older than they were when they started, he had a little cloud with red slits for eyes hanging over him to worry about.

He also doubted exactly how much use Transfiguration would be in a duel. He remembered Hermione and Ron telling him that Cedric had changed a stick into a dog to confuse the dragon in the first task, but that it had taken up a bit of time. And time, Harry knew, wasn't something you could afford to waste when duelling.

Potions was also not on the list, and, though he felt a bit bad for Lupin since he now wouldn't have a steady supply of Wolfsbane anymore, Harry knew he wouldn't really miss it. It was one thing to learn how to make a healing draught, but what enemy would kindly stand by and wait while you assembled the right ingredients? He briefly wondered if Hermione (who was easily the best Potions student in the school) would be able to handle making the Potion for Lupin.

As he made a mental note to ask her at the wedding, a flutter of wings and a hoot signalled the return of Hedwig.

She hooted again, nipping Harry as he removed the letter she was carrying before gratefully drinking some water in her cage, while Harry opened the envelope that, judging by the writing, was from Ron.

_Hey mate,_

_Glad to hear that Dumbledore's words last year have had a good influence on the muggles._

Harry couldn't help but smile at that. The Dursleys had treated him remarkably well since he'd arrived back, though he knew this was most likely due to the fact that he'd never be coming back here this time next week, rather than what Dumbledore had said when he turned up last year.

_Bill and Fleur are looking forward to catching up with you again, and Mum's been nearly running off her feet with cooking for it. I swear, the Hogwarts elves could take a few lessons on how much food you can cook in an hour (don't tell Hermione I wrote that, by the way)! Anyway, I haven't been able to find out much about what's going to happen about headquarters, though Mum and Dad both reckon we're right and have taken our suggestions to heart._

This had been one problem that Harry wasn't sure about. Since Dumbledore was now dead, was the Fidelius charm useless, or did it only mean that no one else would be able to enter it? The circumstances surrounding Harry's parents house were different in that it had been destroyed, whereas in Grimmauld Place's case, they (or rather, Hermione, since Harry and Ron hadn't even thought about it) felt that only those who had been granted access previously would be able to return.

Either way, they had discussed the possibility of Snape coming back during the night and torching the place, removing any information that the Order might have left there. The 'suggestions' Ron mentioned in his letter, were to remove all the books, trinkets and things like that to another location thus eliminating that possibility before it could happen. Harry didn't really care where all the stuff was, just as long as it wasn't in Grimmauld Place.

_Further to that, though you'd probably deem this to be more important, have you heard back from Hermione regarding young Mr Black? Just asking since I haven't, but I think she'd probably send it to you first anyway, you know how she gets when she has a new research project._

Again, Harry had to smile as he could very much imagine Hermione's eyes lighting up at the prospect of finding out if Sirius' younger brother, Regulus, was the mysterious R.A.B. the letter from the fake locket had referred to. When talking to Dumbledore, the portrait of Phineas Nigellus had interrupted, saying that Regulus' middle name was Alphard. However, from the little Harry knew about Regulus (which consisted of a very brief talk from Sirius), Harry doubted this had been the reason Regulus was killed since Sirius said he had gotten scared and backed out. But, experience told him not to rule out the possibility. After all, everyone had been proven wrong about Sirius betraying Harry's parents.

Harry had sent off a letter to Lupin, asking if he knew what Regulus' writing was like, or knew anyone who did. His old Professor had suggested he talk to Professor McGonagall about it as Regulus was younger than the Marauders and therefore wasn't in any of the same classes. Harry took this as meaning that Sirius talked about Regulus to his friends as much as he had done with Harry himself.

_Anyway, I should probably finish this letter since Hedwig looks as though she's eyeing up Pig (you need to train your owl better, mate, I don't want feathers all over my room!), and you are probably starting to doze off with boredom from my rambling. Mum and Dad said that they'd send over Charlie to pick you up on Saturday (that's this Saturday, and if you conveniently 'forget' and make me endure Merlin knows however many hours alone, I'll save You-Know-Who the trouble and kill you myself!), so make sure you're ready at around lunchtime._

_See you then, mate!_

_Ron_

Harry smiled as he read the last part of the letter, wondering if Ron would really go to those measures if he didn't turn up. But since Harry had already accepted, he wasn't going to find out. The wedding was on the 26th of July, and Harry only had to last until the 31st before the wards that protected him at Privet Drive ended. After that, and gaining his apparition license, he knew there wasn't going to be many places for him to hide from Voldemort.

But hiding wasn't his intention. It was time for Harry to do what he was born to do; destroy Lord Voldemort. He owed that at the very least to his parents, Cedric, Sirius and Dumbledore.


	3. Chapter 2 – Chosen Road

Again, I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous ones!

Righto, so this is just a little fic about my potential seventh book taking place after the events in HBP. This story is a stand-alone, and does not fit in with any of my other fics. Again, only some names are mine, everything else is not!

Ok, I'm trying not to have any section breaks with this fic (casts a glance towards a certain someone who shall remain nameless, lol), save for each chapter which is taking place after its predecessor ('duh!' I can hear people say). As such, the chapters will take longer for me to write out since I tend to be quite good at swapping all over the place…well that's _my_ reasoning anyway, lol!

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**Chapter 2 – Chosen Road**

Saturday came around at last, and Harry was still debating about whether or not he should go downstairs to wait for Charlie in his dress robe or Dudley's hand-me-downs. He knew that Charlie was going to be coming under the disguise of an invisibility cloak since it was the middle of the day (Harry had told Ron to constantly remind Charlie of Privet Drive's dislike of anything out of the ordinary). Harry had tried to comb his hair, but this proved a fruitless task which he gave up on after about ten minutes, choosing to double check that he had his own invisibility cloak ready for their departure.

In the end, the young wizard decided not to scare the Dursleys anymore than what Dumbledore had done last year, and chose to head downstairs, with the clock in the living room showing it was just after noon. Only his Aunt had looked up when he entered the room, while Harry could see that Dudley was doing his best to look interested in reading the television guide. Harry felt it he would have had a better chance in succeeding if Dudley actually had the magazine the right way up. Finally, Vernon put down the newspaper he had been reading, and gave Harry a glare for daring to interrupt him.

"So how is this, this, _person_," Vernon spat out, "arriving here?"

"Er, similar to Prof…the man who did last year," Harry replied. While the Dursleys had made no attempt to be nice to him, they had pretty much left him to his own devices, which suited Harry just fine. The chores they had given him only included things like washing the dishes and mowing the lawn, both of which took minimal time and allowed Harry to think about how he was to go about destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes.

"And exactly _when_ is he coming?" his Uncle asked.

"I don't know, he said some time after lunch," Harry said, much to the dissatisfaction of Vernon who huffed and muttered something about 'freaks' and 'no respect' before going back to reading the paper. Harry rolled his eyes, glad that this time next week he would be Dursley-free for the rest of his life. It was Dudley who broke Harry's train of thought when he spotted Harry's invisibility cloak that he had draped over his shoulder.

"What's that thing?"

Harry gave his cousin a smile and decided to have a bit of fun. "It's the latest fashion at school," he replied, holding the silvery cloak in front of him before flicking it over his arm. This disappearing act had the desired effect as Dudley gasped and his Aunt let out a screech. Fortunately for Harry, by the time Vernon rose from his chair, most probably to throttle Harry's neck, the doorbell rang.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment until Vernon pointed at the door and demanded Harry to answer it, which he did, all the while laughing to himself. A short-ish, well-built red-haired male wearing a t-shirt with a dragon on it and old jeans greeted his sight, giving Harry a smile, which he quickly returned.

"You all set then, Harry?"

"I think so," he replied. "At least, I've got my robe and cloak. How are we going to leave, portkey?"

"Side-along," Charlie answered, smiling at Harry's relieved look as he could remember Ron telling him how much Harry didn't like portkey or floo travel.

"Then why the cloak?" Harry questioned, before his senses came to and he ushered Charlie inside.

"Don't think muggles would appreciate two people just vanishing into thin air," Charlie said, following Harry into the living room where the three Dursleys were still seated.

"Right, I'll be back later tonight," Harry said, choosing to ignore his Aunt's look of disgust at Charlie's clothes.

"You'd better not be blowing up our fireplace again," Vernon said, looking directly at Charlie as he spoke.

"As much fun as that sounds," Charlie replied, "We would prefer someone to open the front door and check the mailbox or something."

"Why would we want to do that?" Dudley asked, his piggy eyes trained on the rather lifelike Hungarian Horntail on Charlie's shirt.

"Mainly because we'll both be wearing those," Charlie said, pointing at Harry's invisibility cloak.

"Fine," Vernon gruffly said, "Dudders, you go outside with them and make sure they leave."

Harry was about to ask how Dudley would be able to see anything since they'd be invisible, but decided against it, following Charlie's lead and wrapping the cloak around himself, causing his cousin to gasp again.

Charlie then flicked his hood down, giving the impression that his head was floating in midair before nodding at Dudley to lead the way. After Dudley had passed, Charlie pulled the cloak back up, fully concealing himself, and he and Harry followed Dudley outside.

The two wizards walked down the street in relative silence, with only the well-trained ears wondering why they could hear footsteps when no one could be seen. They came to the end of Privet Drive and Charlie turned to where he thought Harry was.

"Ok, this should be far enough. Since you're not of age, you'll have to grab onto my arm, ok?"

"All right," Harry answered, feeling his way towards the voice. After bumping into him, Charlie shot out a hand and grabbed Harry's arm.

"Right, Ron said you've experienced this before, so you know what to expect," he said.

Before Harry could answer, he felt the horrible squeezing sensation that was apparition. A few moments later, Harry gulped in some air, opening his eyes (which he didn't remember closing) and saw the Burrow standing proudly, though lopsidedly, in front of him. He couldn't see anyone, so he assumed that everyone was inside getting ready for the ceremony.

"Where's the wedding being held?" Harry asked Charlie who was heading towards the front door.

"France," he replied, "Dad managed to get a portkey made for everyone to take once we're all ready."

"Exactly how many are coming?"

"Pretty much all the Order, Hermione and you," Charlie answered, opening the front door and gesturing for Harry to go in.

If outside the Burrow was calm, the inside was anything but. Harry could see Mrs Weasley rushing around frantically, berating Fred and George for making them late. Mr Weasley was calling out to his wife, trying to get her to calm down, reminding her that several other people would soon be arriving. This sort of succeeded in that it stopped her from yelling at the twins, but it made her then go off about how they wouldn't be ready by the time the others got here.

"Home sweet home," Charlie said, grinning at Harry who smiled in return.

Arthur must have heard him, because Harry then found his hand being shaken in a tight handshake.

"Harry, good to see you again. Don't mind Molly, she's been like this for the last week."

"Good to be here, Mr Weasley," Harry replied, rubbing his hand when it finally got released from Arthur's vice-like grip.

"Ron's upstairs playing chess with Ginny, Hermione's up there too. Smart witch she is, silenced the door so they couldn't hear Molly," he said, smiling and shaking his head slightly.

Harry nodded and headed upstairs. He was about to knock when he remembered about the silencing charm. He opened the door and heard Ron's voice, "Can't we wait a little longer, Mum? Harry's not even here yet."

Harry could see that the three of them were all dressed for the wedding, and must have been interrupted before by Mrs Weasley if Ron's comment was anything to go by.

"Sure, no worries," Harry replied, grinning when he saw the stunned looks from his three friends' faces. Finally, the shock wore off and Harry was engulfed by Hermione and Ginny, while Ron gave him a big crooked smile.

It was Ginny who noticed Harry's attire. "You should go and change, Harry. Wouldn't want Mum to see you in that."

Harry laughed, before asking where the best place would be to get changed. Ron directed him to the bathroom, and Harry returned a few minutes later in his forest green robe. It didn't quite fit him as well now, so Hermione made some minor adjustments to it, making it longer and broader across the shoulders. The four of them made their way downstairs, saying a quick hello to the twins who ran past them, with Mrs Weasley's yelling indicating why they were running.

While Ron and Ginny were accosted by their mother, Harry spotted Lupin and Tonks, her arm linked through his, who had just arrived and made his way over to them. Lupin looked as ragged as ever, despite the fact he was wearing what looked like new clothes. His face looked incredibly haunted, and it was clear to see that the lack of Wolfsbane potion was affecting him.

"Hello Harry," Lupin said with a smile.

"Nice robe," Harry remarked at Lupin's maroon outfit.

"Yes, Tonks demanded I get something nice for the wedding," he replied, earning himself a playful slap from Tonks.

"I never demanded anything, Remus," she said, "Except that I'd pay for whatever you chose."

"Well, you both look really good," Harry said. Tonks had also gone with a maroon dress, and her hair was cycling through the colours of the rainbow.

Harry then made his way over to where Hermione was talking with Professor McGonagall, while Lupin and Tonks both went over to the small table Mrs Weasley had set up with a few nibbles on. Harry noticed that Hermione had an envelope in her hands and thought that they'd be the ones she had requested by Regulus. Harry said a quick hello, and noted how different the stern Transfiguration Professor looked when she wasn't teaching.

"Well, I do hope you find whatever you are looking for, Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall said before withdrawing two envelopes, giving one to Hermione and the other to Harry.

Both looked questioningly at each other for a moment before Hermione's eyes widened. "These aren't our Hogwarts letters, are they, Professor?"

"Of course," she replied, "I have already given Mr and Miss Weasley theirs."

Again, Harry and Hermione shared a look.

"But we're not going back," Harry said, stopping every other conversation that was within hearing range.

Professor McGonagall blinked twice before falling into the nearest chair. Lupin was staring at Harry with a goblet halfway to his lips before it fell to the ground with a clatter, while Tonks' hair had stopped flashing different colours. Ron and Ginny were slowly edging their way from their mother, but Mrs Weasley seemed to be too surprised by Harry's response to notice. Fred and George also had looks of shock, but you could see a hint of amusement on both their faces, while Moody looked as if all his Christmases had come at once.

"It's not true," Mrs Weasley whispered, turning to face Ron and Ginny. "Tell me it's not true?"

"It's true, Mum," Ron replied, unable to meet his mother's eyes as he withdrew his unopened letter and handed it to Professor McGonagall.

Ginny did the same, but Harry snatched the letter off McGonagall and shoved it back in her hands. "You're going to Hogwarts, Ginny."

The young witch gave Harry a death stare that would have made any normal person shiver. Harry, however, stood defiantly; Hermione had a look of shock on her face (though Harry wasn't sure if it was because Ginny wanted to go with them, or the fact that Harry hadn't backed down from the glare), while Ron was edging away from them, obviously not wanting to get caught in the middle of the impending outburst.

"Please, Ginny," Harry started, deciding to try to calm her down. "If you were in our year, I'd have no problem with you coming with us. But you've still got a year left, and Hogwarts is the safest place."

"Safest place?" she scoffed, nearly laughing. "Remind me how many life threatening situations you've been in since going there again?"

That's diff…" he began, but Ginny cut him off.

"Or don't they count because it's not _you_ we're talking about here? Honestly, Harry, I thought you of all people would understand why I _don't_ want to go back there."

Harry knew he was in trouble as the colour of Ginny's ears now matched her hair, something Hermione also noticed as she started to creep away from them. Fortunately for Harry, Mrs Weasley chose that moment to step in.

"That's enough you two. Right now isn't the time to be talking about this," she said, glaring firstly at her daughter then at Harry. She then looked at a still slightly dazed McGonagall, "I'll take all their letters, Minerva. We'll decide what to do about this situation later."

"Indeed," Mr Weasley said, giving Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione a surprised look, "I think everyone is here now, so we should get going."

Everyone followed him outside where a hula-hoop was lying on the ground. Harry watched as Mr Weasley enlarged the hoop, and gestured for everyone to grab hold. Once this was done, he activated the portkey, Harry feeling the tug from behind his navel as they all vanished from the Burrow with France their destination.


	4. Chapter 3 – Tying The Knot

Again, I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous ones!

Righto, so this is just a little fic about my potential seventh book taking place after the events in HBP. This story is a stand-alone, and does not fit in with any of my other fics. Again, only some names are mine, everything else is not!

Er, sorry about the wait _(sheepish grin)_, but a Mr & Mrs Writers Block have decided that I need someone to rent with and have moved in with me _(rolls eyes)_

It's not just limited to this fic either; White Feather has also been suffering badly. Since I finished ch 21 in January, I have only written 2 more chapters (though I _had_ already written a few of the later chapters). Anyway, this chapter deals mainly with the wedding. Bottom line? I have no idea when I will next update this fic...my deepest apologies. Rest assured that I will finish it though :)

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**Chapter 3 – Tying The Knot**

Harry picked himself up from the ground and quickly took in the amazing view. The French countryside was filled with rolling grasslands under a brilliant blue sky. The trees that were scattered here and there offered the perfect amount of shade on a summer afternoon.

Beauxbatons was a magnificent sight; the white castle nestled in the hills with a cobbled stone path beckoning you to come closer. Harry dropped to the back of the group and walked alongside Ron and Hermione before a thought came to him, "How can we see the school? Shouldn't it have charms around it or something?"

"They do," Hermione confirmed, "But they were lowered so we could find it."

"So where's the reception taking place, in the Hall?"

"No," Ron answered, "Fleur wanted it to be outside…"

Ginny chose that moment to interrupt, "There's a garden around the back that she _insisted_ on using. Mum wasn't really keen since she wanted the wedding to be at the Burrow, but after seeing the pictures of it, she agreed that it was the perfect place for it," she then glared at Harry, "And _don't_ think you haven't got any further explaining to do."

Harry nodded, "I know, Ginny. And I don't really fancy explaining it to your Mum either."

"What about _me_?'!" Ron exclaimed, "You don't live with her, remember?'! Why did you have to bring it up then anyway?"

Harry was about to reply when Hermione answered for him. "Ron, have you forgotten that you're supposed to be helping your brothers?"

Ron's eyes widened before he mumbled something like, "Of course not. Now, if you're finished I have to help the twins," and rushed off where Fred and George were in the process of discussing who could pull off the most innocent face to Charlie while the other disillusioned the wedding cake. Ginny was called over by her Mum, leaving Hermione and Harry free to discuss the assignments that Professor McGonagall had given Hermione.

They found a reasonably secluded spot amongst the garden and after making sure no one was around, Harry asked her if the writing was the same as the note in the locket.

"No," Hermione shook her head after examining both pieces of parchment, "But I think it would be better off finding the locket rather than whoever left the note."

"Knowing who wrote it could help though," Harry countered.

"I agree, but for all we know they might be dead," she replied before looking at Harry in concern. "Do you have any idea how we can go about this?"

"Not really," he admitted. "All I've done is figure out that we need someone to teach us more spells."

"Have you asked Lupin?"

"He'd still be going into werewolf colonies wouldn't he?"

"Actually, I overheard Charlie and Bill saying that the Order don't really know what to do now. Seems like Dumbledore only told you what he had planned."

"Oh great, well I'm not telling them. I think that the less people that know the better."

"I tend to agree with you, but we're going to need help finding the locations," she said.

Harry nodded, "Yeah, and the fact that I didn't feel anything through my scar from the diary might make finding the others even _more_ difficult. I mean, it could've served as a warning when we got close to them."

Hermione nodded in agreement before saying, "We should probably head back now, Harry. No sense in having them send out a search party."

Harry agreed and the two of them made their way back into the clearing where the wedding was to take place. Ginny noticed that they had disappeared and gave the pair a quizzical look which clearly stated that she hoped it would be part of their explanation to why the three of them won't be returning to Hogwarts.

Harry, Hermione and Ginny found seats next to Tonks and Lupin, while Ron went with his brothers since he was part of the service. Harry noted the presence of most of the Order and figured that after seeing Moody's eye spinning wildly that they were here in case Voldemort decided to attack. Hermione had told him that Voldemort had been suspiciously quiet since the death of Dumbledore, but Harry reasoned that since there had been many casualties on both sides that night that perhaps it was a question of recovery.

The wedding quickly came around, and Harry watched as Fleur's four bridesmaids all made their way gracefully towards the front of the gathering, arms linked with Charlie, the twins and Ron, who all had dreamy looks on their faces. As the small group got to the front and turned around, the rest of the congregation slowly got washed up in the Veela charm. Harry got snapped out of it by Hermione and Ginny when they both whacked him over the head while Lupin and Mr Weasley were getting similar wake-up calls by Tonks and Mrs Weasley respectively, causing all three wizards to blush.

Bill was standing beneath a charmed archway which was entwined with wonderful flowers including white orchids and roses, waiting for Fleur. His brothers were on his right, with the bridesmaids waiting on his left. Harry guessed that Fleur and her family had picked out the dress robes for the occasion since they all looked brand new and appeared to be the wizarding form of a formal black Tuxedo, while the witches were dressed in a full length lilac dress that highlighted their silvery-blonde hair. Madame Maxime had been selected (by Fleur again) to conduct the wedding and was looking incredibly touched at the gesture by her favourite student. All were waiting nervously for the bride to appear.

The music soon started and all heads turned away from the group in front as everyone tried to catch a glimpse of the bride-to-be. Many gasps were heard as Fleur, in a stunning white dress with blue ribbons lacing up her corset, a beautiful sparkling tiara on her flowing silvery hair, walking up the aisle with what Harry assumed was her father. When she got to the front, Harry had to smile at Bill's completely flabbergasted look, while his brothers all wore somewhat dreamy looks of their faces.

Harry didn't recall much of the actual service as he also had been staring at Fleur the whole time and not even the combined efforts of Ginny and Hermione could bring him back to reality. In was with a little sadness that the wedding ceremony concluded and left everyone free to mingle. Harry's disappointment didn't last long as Fleur quickly grabbed him, keen to introduce him to her parents; Philippe and Cerise. Both of them thanked him for saving Gabrielle, causing both Harry and the youngest part-Veela to blush much to the amusement of the Delacours.

Harry felt a little like a pinball as he was then escorted around by Fleur and Gabrielle who he guessed were pointing out their friends, but in the excitement of the occasion were speaking in French so Harry didn't have any chance to understand what was being said. He was enormously relieved when he flopped down into a seat next to his friends who were chatting with Lupin and Tonks. "Still amongst your equals?" Harry asked his former Professor.

"No," Lupin replied, "Albus only wanted me there until such a time that they declared a side in the war."

"Let me guess; they haven't chosen ours," Harry replied and Lupin nodded grimly. "Then what are you doing for the Order?"

"Not an awful lot I'm afraid. Albus didn't leave us with many instructions," Lupin sighed. "In fact, I don't think any of the Order knew what Albus was doing last year…he certainly didn't tell us much."

Hermione and Ron glanced uneasily at Harry who was doing well to mask his shock at the amount of faith Dumbledore had shown him.

"All he told us," Lupin continued, "Was that he had something to find before he could explain the situation to us."

"Really, so you have no idea where he went during the year either?" Harry asked, with both Tonks and Lupin looking at Harry in surprise.

"I was under the impression that he stayed at the school all year," Tonks said, "We thought he had someone going after whatever he was looking for." She then looked at Harry with a mixture of concern and anxiety on her face. "Harry, did Albus tell _you_ anything he was doing?"

Harry was about to say he knew a little bit, but he remembered Dumbledore's words about keeping this secret, "Not really, no. He only told me what he told you; that he was looking for something."

Harry thought Tonks looked extremely disappointed with his lack of news, but she quickly gave him a smile, "Oh well, no harm in asking right?" she gave a small laugh, before grabbing Lupin's arm and heading off to the drinks table.

"Lupin looks terrible, doesn't he?" Ron said.

"I know," Harry replied, "You know anywhere you can buy Wolfsbane?"

"The only place that sells it is in Knockturn Alley," Hermione told him, "And I daresay it wouldn't be cheap. I know for a fact that some of the ingredients for it are quite expensive."

"Do you think you could make it?"

Hermione looked at Harry with a quizzical look, chewing on her lip slightly as she thought about it. "I guess so," she finally answered, "But there's no way that Lupin would agree to it since he doesn't like accepting charity."

"Yeah," Ron agreed, "Mum tried to get him to replace his robes a couple years back and he flat out refused."

"Well then, I'll just have to convince him that it's payback for him teaching me the Patronus. After all, I'd be dead without that spell."

"We can talk about it with Mum and Dad when you come to the Burrow, mate," Ron told him. "When exactly are you coming over? What time should I tell Mum?"

"I'm leaving at the first chance I get, so I'd be worried if I'm not there just after midnight," he replied.

"Are you sure that's safe, Harry?" Hermione asked with worry on her face. "I mean, you haven't got your apparition license yet."

"I know, but I should be able to do it. I apparated Dumbledore and me back to Hogsmeade that night."

"Re…really?" Hermione exclaimed. She, like Ron, thought Dumbledore had been the one doing the apparating.

"Blimey, Harry, that's ruddy brilliant!" Ron said in awe. "I take it that we're going to Godric's Hollow after you arrive?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded, "I've never been there so it'll be interesting to see it."

Ron and Hermione both nodded as their attention turned to how best to go about locating the remaining Horcruxes. They all agreed that the best way to do it was to at least know how to create one and this caused a problem; where could they get such information.

Harry immediately suggested the library but Hermione shot this down as she reminded him that she'd already gone through the library and only found out that a Horcrux was considered to be one of the darkest forms of magic known to the Wizarding world. She then wondered if the Black family library might have some background on them but Ron then said that his Dad had gotten Bill to charm the attic where the books were and would know if anyone went in there.

It was Harry who broke out into a smile as an idea formed in his mind. "There's only one place I can think of where we'll find it."

"Where?" Ron asked after draining his goblet of pumpkin juice in one swig.

Harry grinned at his two friends before answering, "Meet us at Hogwarts first thing in the morning when I get to Ron's, Hermione."

"Hogwarts? But I thought we…" Hermione started, but Harry cut her off, "We are, but the Room of Requirement might be the only place we'll find any information on Horcruxes."

Ron and Hermione's eyes widened in recognition of what Harry meant and they quickly agreed to his idea. All Harry had to do now was to figure out a way to tell Ron's family why they won't be going back for their last year without telling them about the Horcruxes…something both Ron and Hermione could only look at him in pity about.


	5. Chapter 4 – The Wickedest Of Magical Inv

Again, I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous ones!

Righto, so this is just a little fic about my potential seventh book taking place after the events in HBP. This story is a stand-alone, and does not fit in with any of my other fics. Again, only some names are mine, everything else is not!

Well, not much to say about this chapter really…the title kind of gives most of it away.

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**Chapter 4 – The Wickedest Of Magical Inventions**

The next few days went by slowly with Harry continuing to practice the mind-calming techniques in Slughorn's book when he wasn't reading up on spells he thought might be useful to know. He was cursing his luck that he wasn't able to practice any, but with his birthday so close and having already been (falsely) warned by the Ministry in his second year for underage magic, he figured that since he'd lasted this long that he could wait a few more days.

Harry had written to Lupin explaining his planned trip to Godric's Hollow and his former Professor reminded him to be wary and that if Harry didn't mind, he would be able to go with them. Harry had written back saying that was fine since he assumed he'd want to go anyway as he had been one of his Dad's best friends. In truth, Harry wanted Lupin there so he could try to convince him to help them with learning more defence spells; with emphasise on recognising spells through wand movements and light colour as well as nonverbal casting.

His final day at Privet Drive was spent mainly with making sure he had packed everything up since he told Ron to expect him at the Burrow just after midnight. The Dursleys were particularly nice to Harry all day as they knew that they would never have to see him again. Harry pondered whether or not he should write a letter but decided against it considering how he had been treated for nearly the entire time he stayed under this roof.

As Harry waited for the time to pass, he grimly smiled at the thought of the Little Whinging residents not even knowing about the magical world despite the fact that they were in the midst of a war. From what Harry had read in the Daily Prophet, Voldemort had come closer to exposing the magical world with the mist caused from the Dementors being blamed on everything from gas leaks to locally concentrated areas of smog. Even the Death Eater raids on muggle homes had been described as local gangs stirring up trouble with innocent citizens being caught in the crossfire.

Harry let out a frustrated sigh as he'd been waiting for this moment ever since his sixth year had ended. His room was perfectly clean with the only visible items being his bed, the desk, his school trunk and Hedwig's cage. Finally the clock downstairs began to chime, signalling midnight, and Harry smiled as he grabbed his things before concentrating on his destination.

Just as he left Privet drive with a crack, Harry felt a tingling sensation which he guessed was the blood protection ending. When he next opened his eyes and adjusted to the darkness, Harry could make out the Burrow with a single light on upstairs. As he was about to knock, the door opened and he quickly found himself on the wrong end of a wand with a rather wound up Ron Weasley at the other end.

"What's my greatest fear?" he said in a cold voice that nearly made Harry take a step back.

"Spiders," Harry replied before asking, "Who's Tom Riddle?"

Ron gave him a goofy grin, "You're just trying to get me to say his name," he answered before ushering Harry inside and upstairs to Fred and George's old room.

Ron quickly placed a silencing charm on the room and laughed when Harry told him off for doing magic during the holidays.

"We're of age now mate, Ministry can't do anything," he said making Harry feel rather stupid. "So what's the go for today? What time are we meeting Hermione?"

"Well, she said in her letter that she'd meet us at the post office in Hogsmeade at nine," Harry replied.

Ron nodded before bidding Harry good night leaving him to flop down on the bed that had been made up for him. He drifted off to sleep thinking how best to answer the questions that Mr and Mrs Weasley were sure to ask over breakfast. His peaceful slumber was brought to an end when a loud bang grabbed his attention. Harry fumbled for his wand until he heard Ron's voice, "Harry, mate, you better come downstairs since all three of them are going to want to have a polite," Ron paused as he tried to think of the right word before a small grin crossed his face, "Interrogation."

"What time is it?" Harry asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes before putting on his glasses.

"Just before eight," Ron replied. "And just so you know, Ginny looks _really_ ticked off."

"Yeah, thanks for that. I was already worried enough about what your Mum was going to say."

Ron let out a small chuckle before the two of them headed off to have breakfast. As usual, Mrs Weasley had outdone herself and Harry was soon tucking into a wonderful breakfast of sausages, eggs and pancakes washed down with pumpkin juice. He didn't miss the looks that Ron's family were giving them and both Ron and Harry nearly sprinted from the kitchen to get ready to go to Hogsmeade.

They had nearly made it to the front door when Mrs Weasley blocked their way. "Oh no you don't. You two aren't going _anywhere_ until you explain why you have decided not to finish your education."

Harry heard Ron mutter "bugger" and he glanced over his shoulder noticing that Mr Weasley and Ginny were barring their other escape routes from the living room so he just sighed before nodding at Ron who shook his head like Harry was condemning himself to a death sentence.

"Well, Dumbledore…" he began but Ginny angrily cut him off, "Is dead, Harry. And you _know_ he'd have wanted you to finish Hogwarts!"

"It's not that simple, Ginny," he told her before looking Mrs Weasley in the eye. "I know what he was working on all year and this is what he wanted us to do if he died."

Ron was about to say that wasn't the case but a glare from Harry quickly shut him up. In his mind, Harry was hoping that the others would just leave it at but Mr Weasley quickly put those thoughts to rest. "He told…you? But the Order…"

"This didn't have anything to do with the Order," Ron cut in. "He told us that this was of vital importance and if it meant not finishing school then that's what we'd have to do."

If the shocked looks on both Ron's parents were somewhat amusing, the look of fury Ginny was wearing told Harry that he was in trouble for not telling her anything about this.

Ron noticed this too because he then added, "Don't blame Harry, Gin, he was only doing what Dumbledore told him to. He felt that the less people that that knew what was going on, the better."

Ginny's face slowly lost its shade of red as she composed herself a little, though she still glared angrily at Ron and Harry. Meanwhile Molly and Arthur were staring at the two wizards in shock, trying to get over the fact that Dumbledore had confided in them over the Order which Dumbledore himself had created.

"Ginny," Harry said softly, trying his best not to notice the tears that she had in her eyes from feeling betrayed. "Do you want to come with us to Godric's Hollow? Kingsley said he can get Lupin a portkey since he's the only one who can remember where it was."

Harry knew the answer as Ginny turned to him and glared yet again but he was blinked in surprised with her response, "I'd like that."

Even Ron looked shocked but Harry knew that Ginny would press them for information while they were at Godric's Hollow.

"So where are you going today then?" Mr Weasley asked, finally finding his voice from this revelation.

Harry gave a small smile as he replied. "As ironic as it sounds, we need to go to Hogwarts. Besides, Lupin wrote to me saying that the earliest he could get the portkey was this weekend."

"What time do you think you'll be back?" Mr Weasley asked as he placed a gentle hand on his daughter's back as he tried to calm her down.

Harry shrugged. "Dunno. But we hopefully won't be all that long. It depends on whether or not we find what we need I s'pose."

Mr Weasley just nodded while his wife gave a reluctant sigh and Ginny just glared at them but refrained from saying anything. Both Harry and Ron took this as a good sign and quickly made their way outside, keen to get to Hogsmeade without being berated by Hermione for being late.

Two cracks and a short while later, the Burrow was no more as both wizards now stood at the main Apparition point in Hogsmeade Village. A quick look at the clock on the wall told them that they had a little under ten minutes before the scheduled meeting and both started jogging down the street, ignoring the stunned and awed looks others gave them as they recognised Harry.

Both of them made it to the post office in time and waited outside for Hermione. The minutes ticked by with no sign of her and they began to worry. "You sure she said to meet here?" Ron asked.

"Are you kidding? Don't you remember that the post office was the first place she told us about in third year when we discussed Hogsmeade?" Harry replied incredulously.

Ron just nodded as the two of them didn't notice that the door had opened and a witch stood rolling their eyes at them. She decided to put them out of their misery, "Actually I said inside the post office, Harry."

Both Harry and Ron whirled around, ready for an attack before stopping and smiling at Hermione. "No you didn't," Harry stated. "You said that you'd meet us at the post office. I just thought you meant outside since it's not raining."

"I always go inside whenever I come here, you should've remembered that," she replied with a stern look on her face before she ran up and hugged both of them. "Glad you're both here."

Harry just nodded before the three of them made their way up the path to Hogwarts. Hermione had told Professor McGonagall that they'd be coming so she was the only one not surprised to she her waiting for them at the front gates. McGonagall told them that if they needed her help she'd be in her office. Finally Harry stopped in front of the portrait of Barnabas. The door appeared after Harry walked past for the third time and the three of them quickly made their way into what was an empty room much to Ron and Hermione's surprise.

"Right so what exactly are we going to…" Ron's voice trailed off as Harry closed his eyes and concentrated on what he wanted. Much to his disappointment, only a handful of books materialised in front of them on a bookshelf.

"_That's_ it? You mean to tell me that those are the _only_ books that have information about Horcruxes in them?"

"No Hermione," Harry shook his head, "Those are the only books that will tell us how to _create_ a Horcrux."

Ron's eyes widened but Hermione just nodded and smiled lightly. "Of course. What better way to find out what we're up against than to know how he did it in the first place."

"Exactly. Now do you know if there's a copying charm or something since we might miss something if we just take notes and the shorter time we're here, the more time we have to go into the Chamber of secrets and scout around."

"Er, Harry?" Ron questioned with a look of shock on his face. "Why do you want to go down there?"

"Voldemort might have left something there when he went here or he may have not found everything. After all, the chamber was made by Salazar Slytherin not Tom Riddle."

"Good thinking, Harry," Hermione said proudly. "If Voldemort only found out about the chamber in his last couple years here, then there's a good chance that he may have missed something. As for the charm, just ask the room for a few enchanted quills."

Harry nodded and did just that before the three of them watched as the new quills started writing on their parchment. Harry had to admit it was rather disconcerting to watch as the quills paused before trailing over the words like one would do with their finger when finding where you were up to in the book.

His attention was cut short when Hermione let out a gasp and pointed a shaky finger at one of the pieces of parchment. Harry quickly scanned the page and his eyes widened at what he read.

_Horcruxes (the darkest magical creation known to date):_

_The purpose of a Horcrux is to protect the given piece of soul from anything that might happen to the body of the person to whom the soul belongs. While the Horcrux is kept safe, the person will continue to exist even if his or her body is damaged or destroyed._

_The original intent of the Horcrux was to provide healers with the chance of saving their patients lives, but this use of the Horcrux was quickly abused by the Dark Lord of the time, Morgana (better known as Morgan le Fey), who instead attempted to use the Horcrux to become immortal._

_To create a Horcrux, the spell-caster must have split his or her soul into fragments, so that one fragment can be implanted within the Horcrux while the other is retained in the spell-caster's own body. The original act of splitting the soul is unknown, but it can be recreated by committing murder which rips the soul apart. It does not matter whether the victim is a witch, wizard, or muggle._

_The incantation to allow the split piece of the soul to be manifested into an exterior source is 'Horcrucio Incarcia'._

_Locating Horcruxes are notoriously difficult as one can use anything to store the piece of soul in. Use of the four point spell, or even a variation of it, is not advised due to there being more than one soul-fragment._

"Well, that could make things a little more difficult." Harry said not noticing the exasperated looks both his friends were giving him.


	6. Chapter 5 – Return To The World Beneath

Again, I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous ones!

Righto, so this is just a little fic about my potential seventh book taking place after the events in HBP. This story is a stand-alone, and does not fit in with any of my other fics. Again, only some names are mine, everything else is not!

Uh, this little chapter is mainly stuff that my wonderful beta came up with…wish she'd write the thing for me, lol…not entirely sure if it'll be important later on as I wasn't really planning on writing it out. I was just going to have them explore it for a bit when she suggested this. She says she got the idea from the FF games...not having ever played them I'll just have to agree with her, lol.

* * *

**Chapter 5 – Return To The World Beneath**

"I still think the location charm would work."

"We've already been over this, Harry. The book says…"

"I _know_ what the book said, Hermione. But we know what the objects actually are so it'll be easier."

Hermione was about to reply but Ron beat her to it. "I'm not sure about that, mate. I mean, if we say 'Point Me Slytherin's locket', wouldn't the wand just point wildly as it finds anyone who was in Slytherin and has a locket?"

Harry opened his mouth but nothing came out as he realised Ron was right. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, what if we add 'cursed' into it or something?"

"Hmm, well that might reduce the odds a bit but chances are that there would still be several lockets that are cursed," Hermione said, picking her words carefully so as to not anger Harry any further. "You said something about no ladder into the chamber last time?" she said trying to change topic.

"Yeah, that's right. We just slid down into it didn't we, Harry."

"Yeah, we'll make sure to clean ourselves at the bottom this time," Harry said, grinning at the memory of Lockhart being coated in dirt and grime.

"Then how did you get back out?"

"Oh, Fawkes came and…bugger, I didn't think of that!" Harry said, cursing to himself.

"We could ask McGonagall if we can borrow some brooms?" Ron suggested and Hermione reluctantly agreed so they turned around and headed up towards the Headmistress' office.

They reached the gargoyle and Hermione spoke the password, Albus, and the three of them went up the spiral stairs and into McGonagall's office. While Hermione did the asking of the brooms, Harry chuckled to himself as he watched the portrait of Dumbledore wink at him and pop yet another lemondrop into his mouth.

He was brought from his thoughts when he was addressed. "Potter. Some owls came by while you were doing your research." He nodded and she handed him several letters. He quickly sifted through them wondering who they were from since his friends were standing right next to him and people like Lupin knew he was at the burrow. He frowned slightly as he saw one letter having the Gringotts seal before handing them back to McGonagall who looked at him in confusion.

"Er, would you be able to just check that the letters are alright to open? I don't want to be portkeyed someplace that's all."

The old witch gave him a rare smile and quickly ran a few diagnostic charms which cleared all the letters from having any nasty surprises. To save some time for her students, McGonagall had a house elf pick up the brooms and then the three of them set off back for the Chamber entrance.

"Why would Gringotts be writing to me?"

"They usually do when you become of age," Ron replied.

"I don't recall getting one when I did," Hermione said, furrowing her brow.

"Well, that's because you're a muggleborn, no offence. But most older wizarding families have a family vault and the letter is probably just telling him that. Anyway, you can read it when we're in the Chamber, Harry."

They quickly reached the bathroom and Harry hissed at the tap before moving back to allow the entrance to fully open.

"I'll never get used to you doing that," Ron said, giving Harry a grin which was returned.

"Ask if there's a ladder, Harry," Hermione added, clearly not wanting to ride on a broom.

Harry nodded and did as she asked. Hermione looked relieved as instead of a ladder, a spiral staircase appeared. They reached the bottom and set about levitating the rocks out of the way. Hermione grumbled about how lucky they were the whole thing hadn't collapsed around them and rolled her eyes when Harry quipped that he had 'sheer dumb luck' on his side.

The three of them managed to remove enough debris then they set off and reached the next door. Harry reminded them that since he hadn't been here in four years that they probably should cast a bubblehead charm since the smell of the dead basilisk would be rather putrid.

After a deep breath, Harry stepped into the Chamber with his friends quickly following suit. It was a different feeling this time as Harry was able to look around and marvel at how well created it was. He heard a gasp which snapped him from those thoughts and looked at where Hermione was pointing: ahead was the basilisk.

"Ruddy hell! You killed that thing when you were twelve?!"

"Yeah. It looked bigger back then too," he remarked, leaving both his friends in shock as he walked up to the dead snake after noticing that it was still intact. 'Must be since it's a magical snake, maybe preservation charms,' he thought. "Do you know if you can get anything from a basilisk? Like venom for potions or something?"

Hermione just nodded, her eyes wide and locked on the size of the creature. She eventually managed to speak in a small voice, "Yes. Anything from a basilisk will fetch a ridiculously high price since they're so rare. Are you sure that thing is dead, Harry?"

"If it wasn't, it would have no doubt managed to move back to its hiding place, Hermione." Harry replied. "Speaking of which, that's what I want to know how to get to. We should come back later with Madam Pomfrey or someone who would know how to collect things like venom or scales. Maybe Snape." Harry cringed at the last bit. Ron just glared at Harry as Hermione snorted at the mere suggestion of Snape.

"Basilisks are actually quite useful," Hermione said before Ron could hex Harry (who would have willingly let him since he wasn't thinking when he said the Snape comment). "And not all bad either. They are just animals after all. It's just their nature to..."

"This sounds familiar," Ron muttered, interrupting. "You said the same thing about Crookshanks during our third year if I recall correctly."

"Oh shut up, Ron!" Hermione hissed. "Actually, you should thank Crookshanks! He saved your life after all. All of our lives."

"Hmpf!" Ron muttered as Hermione went on with Basilisk facts. "Anyway, the venom can be used in certain potions to create terrible curses for victims unfortunate to drink it. Depending what is used, it can either cause painful death or just ruin someone for life. But," Hermione went on as the boys stared. "The scales, when plucked off and put together, can make a suit of armour almost as strong as dragonhide. Oh by the way, Neville once told me that Basilisk manure is a lot better for plants then dragon manure."

"Alright enough!" Harry and Ron stopped her from babbling on as the three of them made their way past the giant beast and took to inspecting each snake statue that lined the corridor, searching for any passageways that could lead them into the serpent's chamber.

"Good lord," Hermione whispered. "These tunnels lead practically everywhere. No wonder you could hear it, Harry."

"Don't remind me," he said, shuddering slightly as he remembered it rather well.

"What's that?" Ron suddenly said causing Hermione and Harry to look up.

"A statue of Salazar Slyth…" Hermione began but Ron cut her off. "I know that, Hermione, I meant the water at the base of it."

"Maybe the chamber leaks?" Harry suggested but Hermione shook her head. "I think Ron might be onto something. Harry, you said the basilisk came from Salazar's mouth right?" Harry nodded so she continued. "What if the water is a defence mechanism? Something that lets the basilisk know if someone is there."

As Hermione walked over to inspect the water, something in Harry made him shout out, "Don't get too close!" She turned and looked at him in confusion so Harry explained, "What if it's similar to the lake in the cave where all the Inferi were?"

Hermione let out a small gasp and Ron actually took several steps back. Harry pulled out one of the brooms and jumped on it. He slowly flew over the water and peered into it, seeing whether or not he could make out anything that looked like Inferi. "I can't really see anything, it's too deep and there's no light down there."

Hermione had by this time recovered a bit and had taken a small sample of the water from a puddle that had been left when the basilisk had smashed through the floor as it chased after Harry. "This isn't really water," she announced after a while.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"Well," she started, chewing on her lip as she tried to explain it. "It is but it isn't. It would appear that it's been charmed to provide the basilisk with something to drink. It smells a little bit sugary."

"Sugar water?" Harry said.

"Yes, that's what it appears to be," she replied before standing up. "Either way, it would be best if we didn't go into it. I suppose we can fly over to the statue and open it from there."

"Actually, Riddle opened it from here, Hermione. Er, maybe you two should hide." Both Ron and Hermione gave him questioning looks so he said, "I don't know if that was the only basilisk or if there are others. Since you two don't speak parseltongue that leaves it up to me."

His friends nodded and moved behind one of the statues along the passageway as Harry hissed for the statue's head to open. He then asked if anything was in there and waited a few moments for an answer. None was coming and he let out a frustrated sigh. "There's no answer, guys, but I want to make sure so I'll go and have a look. If I'm not back in five minutes, then go and get McGonagall or someone useful. I would take you two with me, but as I said before, you can't speak to snakes."

Both reluctantly agreed and Harry was soon on his broom, giving his friends a quick smile. "I'll be careful and make sure I'll be back."

They nodded and Harry took off slowly before vanishing into the mouth of Salazar Slytherin. He stayed near the opening allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness before slowly flying further into the darkness, hissing along the way for any signs of more snakes. The tunnel, which spiralled downwards, didn't last very long and Harry soon found himself in a large room with a few torch light that gave the room an eerie glow; the basilisk's chamber. There were bones scattered all over the place and another small pool of what Harry guessed was the sugar water. He supposed that even basilisks needed something more nourishing than meat before spotting a little alcove about halfway up the wall. He was about to explore it when he remembered that his time must be nearly up so he flew back out before returning shortly after with Hermione and Ron.

"So what do you reckon is up there?" Ron asked.

"No idea but it looks too small for a fully grown basilisk to fit into to."

"Not to mention too high," Hermione added. "We must be beneath the statue."

"Well," Harry said, "we've come this far so we might as well see where it goes."

This time, all three of them went into the opening. They had to forgo the use of brooms to crouching down instead, due to the smallness of the tunnel. Time ticked by until they could finally make out a light in the distance. They tried to increase their pace but the tunnel at this stage was even smaller than before and the three of them were crawling on their hands and knees, slowing their progress even more.

Eventually, the three tired friends managed to reach the end of the tunnel and slowly took in their surroundings, letting their eyes adjust to the light. The circular room they found themselves in wasn't exceedingly large in size and there was a desk in the middle of it. There were the telltale Slytherin banners hanging from the roof but the walls appeared to be textured with a patchwork of different colours.

Hermione was the first to find her voice and the excitement could easily be heard. "I don't believe this! We're in Slytherin's private quarters!"

Harry's eyes widened. "Odd wallpaper though. I was expecting it to be green and silver too."

Ron nodded but it was Hermione who figured it out. "That's not wallpaper," she whispered in shock. "They're…books. This must be his library!"


	7. Chapter 6 – Cracked Glass

Again, I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous ones!

Righto, so this is just a little fic about my potential seventh book taking place after the events in HBP. This story is a stand-alone, and does not fit in with any of my other fics. Again, only some names are mine, everything else is not!

I have a few issues with this story actually. See, it's been about six months since I've updated this (sorry to everyone) and the only excuse I can offer is that I haven't had the motivation to write much for this. However, here's what I propose to do; I'll try to finish off White Feather first before focusing on this one. That means it could be a while between updates again but, hopefully, it will be more frequently updated since it will have my concentration on it. I'm still unsure if I should write several chapters in advance before updating but I will probably stick to my 'post after doing a chapter' thing I said at the start for this one.

No worries about clashing with any ideas from the final Harry Potter book by JKR either simply because I haven't read it yet. I don't intend on reading the book until after the final movie is released…so 2010 then. With any luck, I'll have finished this fic by then, lol

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**Chapter ****6 – Cracked Glass**

The three of them stood in shock and, unsurprisingly, it was Hermione who was the first to recover and slowly moved towards the desk with Ron and Harry quickly following. Hermione was in her element and quickly scanned the few documents on the table, frowning as she couldn't find what she was looking for.

"There must be an index somewhere," she mumbled, glancing around the room.

"There also must be a million books here, Hermione," Ron dryly replied and Hermione sighed.

"I _know_ that, Ron. But unless you want to go through _every_ book, we need to find an index."

While his friends were arguing, Harry thought he saw something a little odd about the far side of the room from where they entered. He walked over and found a sheet of parchment wedged firmly between the bookcases. On closer inspection, he saw that something was written on it but the language was unlike any Harry had ever seen. Ron had seen Harry stop and walked over to him to see what had happened. He was about to pull the sheet out from the wall but Harry stopped him.

"We don't know why it's there, Ron. For all we know, it could trigger something."

Ron nodded and took a closer look at the writing on the parchment. "Well, it's not hieroglyphics that's for sure."

Harry glanced over to Hermione who looked flustered so he assumed that she had yet to find an index. "Try summoning it, Hermione," he called out to her and was rewarded with a dawning expression on her face before she did just that. To their surprise, the sheet of parchment Ron and he had found slowly tried to wriggle free from the wall before tearing and shooting the majority of it across the room into Hermione's hands.

Harry and Ron both held their breath, waiting to see if anything happened but nothing did. "Guess that answers what the writing is about," Ron muttered, causing Harry to grin as they made their way over to Hermione who had taken to trying to read the parchment.

"This doesn't make any sense!" she cried out after a few minutes of silence.

"That's what we said earl…"

"Oh shut up, Ronald," she snapped.

Before his two friends could get into an argument, Harry asked if there was such a thing as a translation spell. Surprisingly it was Ron who answered that there probably wasn't since Fleur would have been able to use that instead of being taught English when she moved from France.

A thought suddenly struck Hermione who looked between the piece of parchment and Harry. "It must be in Parseltongue," she said. "We're in Slytherin's library and he is the most well known Parselmouth of them all."

"Then why can't Harry read it?" Ron asked, completely perplexed.

"Because," she replied, chewing on her lip as she thought, "it's one thing to understand the verbal side of a language, but the writing is another thing altogether."

"So there's no way we can read it," Ron said, his voice sounding slightly defeated.

"Unfortunately, no there isn't. And I don't know where we're going to find someone to teach him."

Harry wasn't really listening at this point, instead staring at the parchment when he had an idea. He raised his want and said "Serpensortia!" and the three of them watched as a large snake erupted from the tip of Harry's wand.

"Er, Harry? Why did you do that?" Ron asked as he and Hermione slowly edged towards the door and away from Harry. It didn't matter that they knew Harry could control the snake by speaking to it, being as close to the rather large serpent as they were was enough to give them the chills.

Harry answered, but since he was looking at the snake, his reply of "I'm going to see if it can read this for us," was in Parseltongue and therefore only he and the snake understood it.

"_Read what, speaker?"_

"_Er, this page please,"_ he said, holding the parchment in front of the snake who sat up. To Ron and Hermione it looked like the snake was going to strike, but they quickly realised it was just trying to see the parchment properly.

It took several tries for Harry to be able to switch between Parseltongue and English to allow Hermione to translate but they eventually found a compromise. The index was in chronological order and they quickly realised that it would take a ridiculous amount of time to go through everything so they skipped to the bottom of the torn page for newer items.

While Harry and Hermione were busy with the index, Ron had gone back to where the rest of the parchment had jammed in the wall. Running his hand over join in the bookcases, he found that it wasn't flush. Ron wondered if this was just a precaution, thinking that perhaps the bookcase needed a gap to expand a little to fit more books in, or if he was just getting too paranoid.

Living with Fred and George had taught Ron many things; one being how to cast a detection charm that showed whether a wall was solid or if it was hiding a room behind it. The wall glowed blue, confirming that there was a hollow section behind the wall (it would have glowed purple had it been completely solid). He quickly called his friends over and Harry hissed 'open'. The three heard a grinding noise and watched as one of the bookcases slowly moved out of the wall, revealing a small room beyond it, leaving the parchment to flutter to the ground as it was now free from being stuck. That wasn't what caught their attention however for unlike the library, this room contained no books or even a desk but a pedestal with an empty, but cracked case on top of it.

"What do you reckon that's for?" Ron asked.

"No idea," Harry replied as he picked up the scrap of parchment that had fallen out when the wall opened. He did a double take at the bottom of the page as it was written in English, not Parseltongue. It looked like some kind of potion, but not even Hermione could figure out why Dragon blood would be needed as this list stated.

"Ask Dumbledore," was Ron's suggestion. He sighed as his friends looked at him, confused. "His chocolate frog card says that he discovered 12 uses of Dragon blood so if anyone can help it'll be him."

"Oh, good idea!" Harry exclaimed while Hermione looked in shock that Ron had thought of it.

"Do you think the case cracked since it's been here for a long time?" Ron then asked as they examined the pedestal closer.

"I wouldn't have thought so. They would've put it under a preservation charm I'd wager so the only way it would be cracked would be if someone else was here and couldn't remove the spell," Hermione concluded.

"Well, either way, we might as well get going, we can always come back and have a better look around here," Harry said and his friends agreed before the three of them slowly made their way from Slytherin's Chamber.

They decided to see if Dumbledore's portrait was awake in McGonagall's office and while they were walking, Harry finally remembered to open the letter from Gringotts. He stopped in his tracks which caused Hermione to berate him to be more careful since she ran into his back. But Harry wasn't listening, he was too engrossed in the letter which stated that since he was now of age, Harry was able to visit the Potter vault.

"Wow, a family vault! Harry, they're said to be some of the most impressive rooms in Gringotts!" Hermione excitedly told him while Ron nodded in agreement.

"But why wouldn't anyone have told me?"

"I suppose the goblins thought someone else would have mentioned it while everyone else thought they would've told you," Ron answered while Harry gave a sigh since he hated being left in the dark like that.

The rest of the trip to McGonagall's went by in relative silence, with the only noises being their footsteps on the stone floor. Luck was on their side as both Professor McGonagall was there and Dumbledore's portrait gave them a wave when they entered. After Hermione read out the ingredient list, Dumbledore frowned as he stroked his long beard, thinking about what could be possibly created using that list.

He finally looked up and peered over his half-moon glasses, making sure everyone was watching him before he spoke. "As Mr Weasley pointed out, there are twelve uses for Dragon's blood, however there is only one way it can be used the way described on that parchment. I believe you encountered the object in your first year here. However, they have missed a few steps out so I don't believe it was a perfect creation."

Harry's eyes widened as he realised what Dumbledore was hinting and if the cracked case meant anything, someone had access to it…there was only one other parselmouth that Harry knew of who would be interested in it; Voldemort was (or had been at one time) in possession of a Philosopher's Stone, albeit an impure one.


	8. Chapter 7 – Call The Past For Help

Again, I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous ones!

Righto, so this is just a little fic about my potential seventh book taking place after the events in HBP. This story is a stand-alone, and does not fit in with any of my other fics. Again, only some names are mine, everything else is not!

Um, sorry about the massive wait. This fic has been quite hard for me to write if I'm honest. I have a few ideas of what I want to do with it...it's just getting to where those ideas fit in that's been the problem _(rolls eyes)_

And, as before, thanks go to Song for betaing this as well as for inviting me to see Nightwish in Seattle with her. We both had a blast and I look forward to being able to catch up with her more often once I move somewhat closer later this year, lol

* * *

**Chapter 7 – ****Call The Past For Help**

The next day passed in tense silence with Molly seemingly fit to burst as she desperately wanted to know what Dumbledore had told Harry but Arthur kept sending her looks telling her to keep quiet and respect the wishes of the former Headmaster. Ginny had settled down a little bit as Harry, on Ron's suggestion, had told her the prophecy and that what Dumbledore was working on was helping in finding a way to defeat Voldemort.

Both Ron and Harry woke up early and were discussing further about how they should go about finding the remaining Horcruxes. In the end, they realised that this was something the three of them couldn't do on their own but they had to be careful about who they got to help and exactly what they told them it was for. Ron suggested Bill and Fleur could be used to help in figuring out any wards surrounding the items and Harry mentioned about Lupin and Moody for learning more spells.

"I just don't want to bring in too many people on this, Ron. The less who know what we're doing, the less chance Voldemort has of finding out."

"Harry, they're all in the Order, they wouldn't…"

"So was Pettigrew," Harry cut in and Ron's eyes darkened.

"Mmm, good call. But we're going to have to get a few involved since we won't have any clue where to start."

"I know," Harry answered. "And the only way I can think of getting them not to talk is to get everyone to make an Unbreakable Vow which I can't see them agreeing with."

"Bill and Fleur probably would as would Lupin."

"No," Harry replied shaking his head. "Lupin wouldn't do it since he wouldn't be able to tell Tonks then."

"So incl…never mind, that's just another person who'll be 'in the know' which is what you don't want."

"Exactly. Do you know if you can break the vow if you're under veritaserum?"

"No idea," Ron replied with a shrug. "What about Dumbledore's portrait then? He already knows what we're doing and might be able to answer that."

"I'll ask him. I thought about seeing if we can take him with us, but the thing is he needs to stay at Hogwarts to help Professor McGonagall through the year. I don't really want to be taking up Dumbledore's time when she needs him more."

"That's fine, but you're forgetting the big picture, mate. What's more important; McGonagall settling in as Headmistress or finding out how to destroy," his voice then dropped to a whisper, "V...Vol…Voldemort?"

Harry sighed. "You're probably right. It's just that I'm not really sure there's anyone who can really help us. I mean, yeah Dumbledore managed to track down two Horcruxes but he also nearly lost his hand getting rid of one. What if that happens to us?"

"That's why we need Bill and Fleur."

"Yeah," Harry admitted. "That's also why I added Moody too. Ok, so he didn't really teach us in fourth year but he knows what it's like to be right there in the middle of things."

"You do know that he's more likely to teach us how to be paranoid, right?"

Harry snorted. "It's not being paranoid if there's someone really after you, which there is right now."

"Point taken. But as you said, we don't even know where to start looking."

"I know and that's what bugging me since there's only one person I can think of that could help us with that and that's Dung."

"Dung?!" Ron exclaimed, "Harry, he's in Azkaban remember?"

"Yeah I know," he replied, nodding. "But he's the only person I know who we can tell him what we're trying to find and all we'd have to do to keep him from asking why is to pay him off."

"You aren't seriously suggesting breaking into Azkaban and getting him out are you?"

"Merlin no!" Harry said, nearly laughing. "But Sirius trusted him so he can't be all that bad if we can get him on our side and keep him quiet about things."

Ron still looked doubtful but he let the matter drop and switched subjects back to Slytherin's library. "Do you reckon an impure stone would actually do anything?"

"No idea, but it's not good news to know that he may have had it."

Dumbledore gave them a few insights as to what could happen if someone tried using one; the expected effects might happen though they wouldn't be permanent, the stone may just shatter when used as it couldn't handle to amount of power expected from it, or it could just be used as a pretty little paperweight and nothing more were the three most plausible explanations.

Silence fell between them before both decided to get ready for Hermione and Lupin to arrive after breakfast. Again, like the previous day, Ron's mother looked like she wanted to interrogate them but it was Arthur who asked Harry what he was expecting at Godric's Hollow.

"I'm not really sure," he replied honestly as he helped himself to some juice. "I mean, Lupin told me that the house hadn't been rebuilt as most people feared the residual magic surrounding it so I'm guessing it's just a pile of rubble. All I know is that it's mainly a muggle neighbourhood now so the property has a repelling ward around it."

"If the area has muggles then where will the portkey take you?" Molly asked.

"Lupin said that there's a park nearby," Ron answered as he finished off his seconds. "He checked the place out after getting Harry's letter."

That satisfied both Arthur and Molly and after flicking her wand to clean up, everyone filed outside to wait for Lupin and Hermione. They didn't have to wait long as first Lupin arrived and gave a smile to Harry before going to talk to Arthur and Molly. Not five minutes later, Hermione arrived and gave Harry, Ginny and Ron a hug before Lupin came over to them.

"Are we all set then?" he asked as he withdrew a newspaper from his robe. Everyone nodded and after grabbing hold on to the paper, Lupin said 'activate' and they were whisked away, Harry suddenly feeling somewhat nervous at seeing the place were everything started.

Harry stumbled slightly as they landed but quickly recovered before looking around the park the portkey had set them down in. It was similar to the one near Privet Drive and when Hermione asked Lupin how he knew there would be non one using the park, he had replied that the area they portkeyed to had a muggle-repellant charm on it. That had been something Lily had insisted on when they moved here in the first place. Harry questioned why the charm was still activated if Lily had cast the spell, but Lupin answered that he had been the one who originally set it up and had checked its adequacy before setting the portkey up.

The five of them set off down the road and Harry's uneasy feeling didn't go away. For safety, he gripped his wand under his robe and took to scanning the area. 'I hope Ron doesn't notice after this morning when we talked about Moody and paranoia,' he thought to himself.

Unfortunately for Harry, Hermione did notice and asked if everything was all right. "I'm not sure. I've just got the feeling that something's not quite right."

"Better safe than sorry," Lupin said before casting a few detection charms that failed to pick up anything out of the ordinary. Harry tried to shrug the feeling off, putting it down to the fact that he had returned to the place where everything started. They arrived at the site and, like Harry had told the Weasleys earlier, the only indication that a house had once built here was the debris that was strewn across the property.

"Not much left," Ron dryly said, causing both Ginny and Hermione to glare at him.

"No, there isn't," Lupin said, sadly shaking his head.

Meanwhile, Harry was just staring at the debris, trying to picture exactly how that night had played out. He knew that Pettigrew had given Voldemort their location and, from what he had been able to piece together, Voldemort had just waltzed through the front door, while it was assumed the house collapsed from the magical backlash when the Killing Curse rebounded onto Voldemort.

"Did Dad have any secret hiding places in the yard or anything?"

Lupin shook his head, "Not that I was aware of. The only things that got hidden in the yard were from when he got Sirius drunk one time while he was in his animagus form and he buried some leftover bones from dinner."

Everyone grinned at that thought before they went about looking around the house to check if there was anything left behind. After a good hour, nothing had turned up and Harry supposed that the Aurors or whoever searched here sixteen years ago had removed anything that had been here.

Harry suddenly stood up as his feeling of dread grew even more. "I think we should leave," he bluntly said, causing the others to look curiously at him.

Hermione saw the look in Harry's eyes and agreed before the five of them made their way back to the park to return to the Burrow. Luck was with them again as there was no one using the park and Lupin activated the portkey once they had reached the secluded area they landed at. They would only find out how lucky they were tomorrow as, moments after they left, several black-cloaked figures wearing white masks arrived at Godric's Hollow.


	9. Chapter 9

Howdy everyone. I haven't dropped off the face of the planet and I don't intend on abandoning this fic. I have just been preoccupied with moving halfway around the world so all of my spare time has been spent by packing things and getting everything organised. I haven't written anything fic-related in about a month and even that isn't finished.

Anyway, I just thought I should let you all know in case you were wondering where I've been, lol


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